The UNLV School of Music is proud to announce a robust slate of classes in the fall exploring mariachi, a cultural Mexican folk music originating in the late 1800s.
"We are so excited to offer this new program that will allow our students to promote and preserve their heritage through this art form," said School of Music director, Isrea Butler. "Students will perform mariachi music, and also learn how to teach others to follow in their footsteps."
Traditional mariachi includes violins, a guitarra de golpe, and a harp. Today, top mariachi groups have violins, guitars, a vihuela, a harp, a guitarron, and trumpets.
The area will be overseen by mariachi music educator, Stephen Blanco, who founded the mariachi program at Las Vegas High School (LVHS) in 2018 with just 50 students. Today, over 200 students are enrolled in mariachi at LVHS. Blanco and the LVHS group Mariachi Joya have received Certificates of Congressional Commendation from both Senator Cortez Masto and Senator Rosen, been recognized by Governor Steve Sisolak, shared the stage with the world’s most famous mariachis, and performed for millions at the 2021 Presidential inauguration.
In the past three years, Blanco was the youngest-ever teacher to win the Nevada Heart of Education, and was a semifinalist for a Grammy Award. He was named a “Yamaha 40 Under 40 Music Educator," as well as named the Nevada representative for SBO Magazine’s “50 Directors Who Make A Difference."
More recently, he led his mariachi to perform for The Emmys, where a hit story about Mariachi Joya won the Emmy for “Arts/Entertainment News." This past October, Stephen and his group were invited to the White House and to perform for the Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration. They performed in the Rose Garden and Sen. Cortez Masto inducted them into the official Congressional Record. Currently, Blanco is working on his master’s degree in curriculum and Instruction and hopes to help teachers across the country make a lasting impact on the communities they serve.
“The start of a university-sponsored mariachi ensemble and the addition of classes geared to training music educators to teach mariachi marks an historic day for music education," said Blanco. "We’re putting together a great team of educators and mariachi musicians to tackle this project and I can’t wait to see what’s ahead.”
For additional information, contact stephen.blanco@unlv.edu.
About the UNLV College of Fine Arts
The College of Fine Arts educates, empowers, and engages creative people to become visionary change-makers in the arts through acts of imagination. At UNLV we believe the arts are an essential good for society. We make education relevant and accessible through our programs and outreach. We create new knowledge in the arts. We celebrate independent thought and the power of bringing people together to foster creativity.
